State to hold hearing on Essex County bars’ last call

June 11, 2013

LAKE PLACID - The state Liquor Authority will hold a public hearing Thursday on changing last call for Essex County bars.

The county Board of Supervisors passed a resolution in May that would move the closing time for bars and nightclubs from 4 a.m. to 3 a.m.

Now the Liquor Authority must authorize the measure, in a process that begins with Thursday's public hearing.

Originally, supervisors weighed changing last call from 4 a.m. to 2 a.m., a move supported by local organizations including the Lake Placid-Wilmington Connecting Youth and Communities Coalition and the Substance Abuse Prevention Team of Essex County. But some bar owners in Lake Placid, a popular resort destination, said losing an hour would hurt their bottom line and adversely affect their employees. The only three establishments in Lake Placid that are open past 2 a.m. close at 3 a.m. already anyway, so supervisors comprised by moving the closing time to 3 a.m.

The resolution also asks the authority to remove a restriction prohibiting liquor and wine stores from selling alcohol from noon to 3 p.m. on Good Friday.

Mac McDevitt, of the Substance Abuse Prevention Team, wrote said an in email to the Enterprise that he anticipates a good discussion at the hearing.

"I know this has been a hot issue in Lake Placid," McDevitt wrote. "I think it might be quite lively with multiple points of view being expressed."

The hearing is set for 6 p.m. Thursday at the Board of Supervisors chambers of the county courthouse in Elizabethtown. Organizers are asking anyone who wants to speak to sign in starting at 5:45 p.m. the day of the hearing. People are not required to sign in to speak, but those who sign in will be given the first chance to speak.